Quick-release cable binding for skis



July 4, 1950 E. M. ERWIN RELEASE CABLE BINDING F'VOR SKIS QUICK- Filed March 1S, 1948 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY. I

Patented July 4, 1950 Eugene. M. Erwin, Seattle, Wash, assignor to Sidney Gerber, Seattle, Wash.

Application March 15, 1948, Serial"N0..14,936

7 Claims.

This invention, relates to ski-cable-bindings, and which is to say the bindings by which the boot is attached to the ski.

Asone object, the invention aims to provide a binding giving a secure rip for the boot and which embodies a perfected instrumentality for holding the toe of the boot enabling the boot to, be freed substantially instantaneously by lateralshii'tin of the toe. More particularly stated, it isan object of the invention to devise a ski binding the. toe-holding means of which serves normally to firmly localize the toe but yet permitsthe boot to be, freed of its localizing restraint by. force of foot-twisting pressure exceeding a predetermined maximum beyond which likelihood; of danger to, theskier is present.

It is a still further and important object to so construct the toe-holding means as to cause the same, when given. a, lateral movement .of the toe in the slight degree necessary to free the latter of its localizing restraint, to thereupon promoterather than retard continued lateral movement; of the toe.

The invention has the yet further object of providing a ski binding incorporating a sole grip of improved design and one which, more es,- pecially, lends itself to pivotal movement in compensation of the lateral release of the toe.

As a further object still, the invention aims to provide a ski binding embodying a cable and a connecting heel-engaging spring arranged by the tension of the sprin to yieldingly urge the toe against the toe-holding means, and wherein means for tensioning the spring are incorporated in and constitute the connection between cable and spring.

The invention further aims to improve the binding toward the end of providing a simple and inexpensive construction, and one capable of bein installed with ease and expedition, which is of smooth design, and which is of unusually neat appearance.

Still other and yet more particular objects and.

advantages will, with the foregoing, appear and be understood in the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a ski fitted with a cable binding constructed in accordance with the now-preferred embodiment of the present invention, the showing being fragmentary in its illustration of. the ski and there being incorpo 2 rated in the View a dotted-line representation of a ski-boot held by the binding.

Fig. 2- is a fragmentary top plan view of only the toe-holding elements of the binding, the scale here employed beingenlarged from that of Fig. 1, and parts being broken away and shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on line 33'of Fig. 2 with the boot represented in full lines and with the nosing piece which attaches to the toe of the latter being shown partly in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken to a yet larger scale on line 44 of Fig. 5, this view being confined to an illustration of thesole-grip and being substantially anunderside plan view-thereof other than for its sectional showing of the screw by which the same is attached to the ski; and

Fig. 5 is alongitudinal vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to said drawings, the ski is designated by the numeral l0, and according to the present invention the accessories which are attached thereto for binding the boot to the ski comprise a sole-grip A applied to substantially span, the ball of the wearers foot at the widest point of the boots sole S, a toe-stop or toe-hold B disposed forwardly therefrom, and a binding cable [3 bent upon itself and passing by its bight around a throw-lever l4 placed to the front of thetoe-stop, the two-strands of the cable extending rearwardly along opposite sides of the ski andhaving the rear ends yoked by a looped coil spring I5 which is arranged, in use, to bear against the heel of the, boot and exert yielding tension upon the latter for drawing the boot forwardly against the toe-stop. While not essential to the working of the invention, the accessory fittings desirably also include a plate ll serving as a restfor the heel and secured, as by screws I2, to the ski. The cable I3, the throw-lever I 4 therefor, and the yoking spring l5 are conventional excepting that, in lieu of forming the throw-lever with a severalty of Iongitudinally spaced holds and hooking the bight of the cable over these holds, selectively, for the purpose of increasing or decreasing the tension of the heel spring, I accomplish this adjusting function by swivel-mounting a nut [6 upon each end of the spring and forming these nuts with internal threads which work alon spiral convolutions inherent to the surface structure of the cable strands.

In respect, of the toe-stop- B, there is providin the ski. The exposed upper shank of said screw, and namely the part thereof which ex'-,.

tends between the base plate and. the head wall of the surmounting hood, is smooth-faced, and

journal-mounted for rotation upon this exposed shank is a roller 23 characterized by its pro-.

vision of a peripheral flange, as 24, at the up- 4 same either through the hole 31 or 38, employing the screw-hole which lies nearest the longitudinal center line of the ski. This screw is taken up in a degree sufiicient to hold the two interlocked plates firmly upon the ski.

It should, perhaps, be here pointed out that the procedure in applying the toe-guard 26 is to place the same centrally upon the toe of the sole, then bring the toe and its loosely applied guard forwardly against the roller, lodging the roller within the indentation 30 and applying forward pressure upon the sole by placing the sprin l5 in position behind the heel and tenper end. The axial length of the roller is appreciably less than, the spacing between said base plate and the-'hoods overhanging wall l9, and there is applied interchangeably above and below the roller a severalty of washers 25. The object in interchanging these washers is to enable the roller to be shifted upwardly or downwardly, and the governing factor is the thickness of the boot sole, all of which will be clearly understood in course of the following descriptionof a'metal toe-guard, designated 26, serving as-an adjunct of the roller and which is permanently secured to the boot.

This toe-guard is in the nature of a nosing strip andis applied along the frontal face of the sole S with its two ends being bent backwardly over the flanking sides of the toe, the guard being secured by counter-sunk screws 21 and being also provided along the upper edge with inturned tabs '28 which hook over the upper edge of the sole and are tacked thereto. There is provided within the length of this toeguard a deforming indentation '39 arranged, when the guard is applied to the boot, to he more or less central tothe width-of the boot, and in the normal use of the'ski this indentation seats snugly against the roller.

Proceeding now to describe the sole-grip A, the same is composed of two plates 3| and 32 arranged in their application to lie transverse to the ski with one'superposed upon the other, and with each said plate presenting upon an end opposite to the other an upstanding ear, as 33 and 34, the ears functioning as jaws and being adapted to grip the sole of the boot therehetwe-en. The upper of the two plates has a rectangular center section 35 struck downwardly from the body of themetal and in the process of stamping there is formed along each of the two side edges of such depressed section a series of teeth 36. Said depressed section is also pierced with a pair of longitudinally spaced screw-holes ill and 38 each counter-sunk from above. The other of the two plates presents a slot 39 corresponding in point of its width to the width of the depressed section but of a length considerably greater than the latter, and there is out along the side margins of this slot a series of teeth 48 arranged to mate with the teeth 36. 'When mounting the sole grip upon the ski, the two plates are each first shifted endwise to one another in the degree necessaryto closely conform to the widest point of the wearers boot sole. The teeth are interlocked in this position, and said assembled plates 3| and 32 are then centered upon the ski and one securing screw, as 4|, is threaded into the ski by inserting the sioning the same by use of the throw-lever [4. The user should make certain that the ski boot is properly placed and in exact alignment with the ski, whereupon the wings 29 of the. toeguard (see Fig. 2) are bent backwardly into snug-fitting engagement with the flanking sides of the toe and the screws and tack are applied, each of the severalscrew-holes of thisguard being so placed as to expose the same for ready access and hence allow the screws 21 to be easily threaded into the sole without-removing the boot from the cable binding. I l r In the use of the ski, it will be apparent that the-ease with which the roller will slip out of the pocket-forming notch 39 under force of lateral pressure will be governed by the tension of the spring IF, the knurled nuts I6 providing an unusually fine adjustment to enable the'user to obtain substantially the exact tension desired. For the noviceskier, the tension should bemade only so tight as to assure that theboot will hold position when a-kick turn is being exeouted. The experienced skier requires more tension. I

While not illustrated in the drawing, the fit tings'for the ski incorporate the usual low-hitch attachments which are screwed to the sides of the ski below the projecting ends of the sole grip. It will perforce be understood that the sole grip, while it is normally held more or less firmly to the ski, will be caused to pivot about its single securing screw H as an axiscoincident with a lateral freeing of the. toe-guard 26 from the 10- calizing influence of the roller, the roller, in consequence-of its permitted rotation, offering no resistance andv in fact promoting such lateral movement once the rollerclears the notch in which it normally seats. 7 1

The. invention and the manner of its operation is thought to be clear from the foregoing detailed description of my now-preferred embodiment. It is self-evident that changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and I therefore intend that no limitations be implied and that theheretoannexed claims be read with the broadest interpretation which the employed language fairly permits.

What I claim is:

1. In a quick-releasebinding for holding a boot upon a ski, the boot being characterized in that the toe part of its sole presents an indentation in the front face extending normal to the plane ofthe sole and placed approximately central to the width of the toe, a member mounted upon the ski for swivel movement about a vertical axis located on the approximate longitudinal median line of the ski and arranged to lodge in said indentation for holding the toe against lateral movement in' the absence of a lateral force of predetermined. intensity, and tensioned means exerting its thrust in a direction endwise to the ski and serving to yieldingly hold said member in seated engagement within the indentation.

2. In a quick-release binding for holding a boot upon a ski, the boot being characterized in that the toe part of its sole presents a vertical notch placed approximately central to the width of the toe, a roller arranged to lodge in said notch and journal-mounted from the ski for rotation about a vertical axis, and tensioned means exerting thrust in a direction endwise to the ski and functional upon the boot to yieldingly hold the notch in seated engagement against the roller.

3. A quick-release binding according to claim 2 in which the notch is formed in a guard strip secured as a fixed nosing upon the toe of the sole.

4. A quick-release binding according to claim 2 characterized in that the roller is held against endwise movement and presents a flange upon its upper end arranged to overlie the toe of the sole and hold the latter against vertical displacement relative to the ski.

5. A quick-release binding according to claim 4 having means for placing the roller in selected vertically adjusted positions whereby to change the position occupied by the flange.

6. In structure for holding a boot upon a ski, a sole grip comprising complementary plate members superposed one upon the other and arranged when applied to the ski to have their major axes extend transverse to the latter and with each said plate providing an upstanding ear upon an end thereof opposite to the other, said plates being stamped from metal with the upper said plate having a center portion struck downwardly from the body of the metal, said depressed center portion being formed along each of its side edges with a series of teeth, the lower plate presenting a longitudinal slot of greater length than said depressed portion admitting to the reception of REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,100,666 Muller Nov. 30, 1937 2,144,021 Kiener Jan. 17, 1939 2,236,874 I-Ivam Apr. 1, 1941 2,364,620 Crocker et a1 Dec. 12, 1944 2,383,064 Lanz Aug. 21, 1945 2,468,879 Hvam May 3, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 136,678 Australia Feb. 26, 1934 

